Puck mismanagement is maligning the Penguins right now

After the Penguins gave up 6 goals to Washington and after they were kicked around and failed to show up, while giving up 5 goals to the Canadiens, we talked about the Penguins lack of defensive coverage through their first two games. Defensive coverage was the main issue, but turnovers were a noted issue causing problems for the Penguins as well

Early on in last nights contest against the Vegas Golden Knights, the turnover woes continued.

There were definitely some defensive woes there as well on the goal being scored, but by and large, the big issue here is the turnover just inside the blue line.

When four of the 5 skaters on the ice for Pittsburgh are headed north and all of a sudden the puck is headed south, that’s not great.

When you are dealing with a team like the Vegas Golden Knights, a team built on speed, turnovers in transition will be deadly almost 100% of the time. When you are out against a line with Tomas Nosek, Jonathan Marchesseault, and William Karlsson, a line that can strike at any time, turning the puck over is just not good at all. A team like Vegas will happily look to pick pucks off in that area of the ice and activate their defense to join the rush and create a mismatch with 5 against 2, 5 against 3, 4 against 2, what have you. Those kind of mismatches against a team built with that kind of speed will kill you.